Some comments regarding the resignation of Bob DeGregorio as HE
commissioner...quotes are from the release, which was posted to
INFO-HOCKEY-L.
> A native of Winthrop, Mass., DeGregorio will relinquish his duties
> with the league to concentrate full-time on his duties as Merrimack
> College's director of athletics.
This did not come as a shock to those of us around Merrimack. Bob has been
pulled in a number of different directions over the last few years, while
serving as HE commissioner and Merrimack AD. Not to mention his family,
with whom he has had less and less time to spend with all that both jobs
entail. This move is a loss for the league, but it should make life easier
for Bob and be a benefit to Merrimack.
Bob is also a member of the NCAA Division I Ice Hockey Tournament Selection
Committee as well as being heavily involved in the Northeast-10, the
Division II conference in which Merrimack competes in its men's and women's
DivII sports. He also served as head coach of Merrimack's perennial
national powerhouse softball team for eight years, most if not all while he
was AD (but not while he was HE commissioner; he passed the reins a few
years ago to Michele Myslinski, who one-upped Bob by winning the 1995 NCAA
DivII title). Busy guy. :-)
Late this past summer, the Hockey East office moved from Merrimack to the
Valley Forum (formerly the Frost Arena) in Lawrence, Mass., and astute
observers at that time saw that as the beginning of the process which
culminated in Bob's announced resignation this week.
> The HOCKEY EAST Board of Directors
> will form a management council to govern the league through this
> season.
I do not know who will be on the council, but the release goes on to state
that Bob will be one of the members.
> "As Merrimack enters its 50th anniversary and prepares to begin a
> capital campaign, I will be directly involved in trying to enhance
> our athletic facilities indoor and out. I have discussed this move
> with (Merrimack) President Richard Santagati and Vice President Joe
> Kelly and they are in full support of my actions."
One could read into the words "capital" and "enhance our athletic
facilities" that the possibility of a new rink at Merrimack is still there.
There has been no news on this front, but over the last few weeks there
have been a number of large donations to the College, including a pledge of
$2.7 million that is apparently unrestricted and could be used for a rink.
Certainly, the action of building a new rink, if it is one of the plans, is
something that is likely to take a lot of Bob's time and effort. Also,
with the advent of the new Merrimack football program on the scene this
season, efforts are underway to build or upgrade facilities on campus to
accommodate the football team.
> "Bob has done a terrific job as commissioner," Boston University
> Athletic Director Gary Strickler said.
I agree. And as Dana Skinner says further in the release, it is not an
easy job to hold, let alone one to hold when the person has other important
responsibilities - you need only ask prior commissioners Lou Lamoriello and
Stu Haskell. The league will miss Bob's day-to-day leadership, but
Merrimack will be better off with all of the exciting things that Bob will
have more time to devote to, and if that includes building a new rink, it
will be a huge boost for the school and the hockey program and thus a boost
for the league.
> A search for a new commissioner will begin in a few weeks.
BTW, I don't know yet who any of the candidates might be.
Hockey East's annual Media Day will be held at the FleetCenter in Legends
next Thursday, October 10th, at 11:30 am, and I am sure more details about
the direction the league is taking will be forthcoming. I will be out of
the country from Oct 4-15 and thus will miss Media Day, but I'm sure that
there will be others in attendance who will be able to report on what
transpires.
The HE pre-season coaches' poll and pre-season All-HE team will also be
announced at Media Day next Thursday.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93
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